According to data available, the number increased to nearly 100 last year from over 80 in 2009.

Inhuman maltreatment rampant in the army is the cause of the rising figure.

Kukmin Ilbo in 2011 editorially said that for the past over two years more than 940 members of south Korean marine corps received treatment for diseases caused by thrashing and other violence.

As the racket for confrontation with the DPRK is getting more vicious, a number of exhausted soldiers are taking their own lives cursing the south Korean society.

A typical example is a soldier who served the army in Cholwon of south Korean Kangwon Province last year. Saying that he killed himself with a hand grenade, media reported that he was harassed by the military exercises and the orders of emergency alert. The military authorities regarding the servicepersons as expendables are also to blame.

As long as the law of the jungle governs the society of south Korea and the racket for confrontation with the DPRK goes on, the tragic incidents will continue unabated.